Rizal Mansor, the aide to Rosmah made this very clear in a Facebook post today, in which he said although the PM seldom brought his family along on official trips, the trip to China was an exception.

“The Chinese government invited the PM and his family for this official trip.

“Those familiar with Chinese culture would know that this is a standard custom of China’s top leaders who emphasise strong personal and family relationships with their close counterparts,” Rizal wrote, quoting an ancient Chinese proverb “飲水思源” – literally meaning ‘when you drink water, think of its source.”

Earlier today, opposition lawmaker Rafizi Ramli of PKR questioned the need for Riza Aziz to be part of the Malaysian delegation to China, saying Najib’s stepson should not be given special treatment but arrested and investigated.

The United States Department of Justice has accused Riza of using money from 1Malaysia Development Berhad to fund the movie Wolf of Wall Street.

Rizal however said that Malaysia-China ties went as far back as 1974 when Tun Abdul Razak, Najib’s father, established diplomatic relations with the Chinese government, making Malaysia the first country in Asean to do so, a historic event that the China government was “well aware of and remained grateful” for.

He said that Najib’s official trip to China would involve the signing of dozens of trade and investment agreements that would lead to “tens of billions of ringgit in investment, trade and benefits for Malaysia” and it was therefore normal for the PM to want his family to be with him during the week-long trip.

“So, why begrudge him on a simple matter of bringing his children with him for the trip?”